Chapter 52: Shady Store?

Hai Qing Morning Paper. Although newspapers weren’t as popular anymore, there were still many people reading the free papers on the buses and subways to pass their boring transit time.

In today’s paper, a piece of news attracted many people’s attention.

“Gu Wu Street – a goldfish store selling small goldfish for two thousand RMB? Sky High Price?”

The title grabbed many people’s attention, and the content made them angry.

“The sky-high price shrimp incident in Shang Dao is infamous now. A thirty eight RMB shrimp dish transformed into thirty eight RMB per shrimp, and as soon as the news spread, the discussion was intense. Even though the shop owner was fined ninety thousand RMB, the reputation of the city didn’t recover. Comedians made all kind of jokes of Shang Dao and of seafood in general. Without exaggeration, in just one night, the sky-high incident embarrassed Shang Dao and damaged the hospitable reputation that the city developed after hundreds of millions RMB of spending.

“Every city should learn from this infamous event, and tourist cities like our simple and honest Hai Qing should take special notice, but here in our own backyard, something similar is happening.

“Gu Wu Street is a developed tourist attraction dedicated to appreciating the past, and walking down the street is like walking back in time to an ancient city.

“Here, an ornamental fish shop at 108 Gu Wu Street sells only goldfish, but when I walked into the store, I was stunned to discover that the goldfish sold for two thousand RMB each.

“Two thousand RMB – a month’s salary for a janitor, two month’s allowance for a student, but a goldfish is actually sold for this price?

“Yes, the goldfish are quite beautiful, but their beauty doesn’t mean they should sell at more than ten times or a hundred times their value. The goldfish on TaoBao are all very pretty, but how much are they? Only a couple RMB or a little more.

…

“To conclude, I want to strongly criticize this black-hearted shop-keeping – making money without a conscience, ruining the reputation of Hai Qing. I’m going to report this store to the Industry and Commerce Bureau to punish this shopkeeper, and I hope that the readers will report this kind of event to build and develop our beautiful, welcoming, and wonderful city of Hai Qing.

“To the shop keepers in our city, please take this as a warning. Don’t break the law for temporary benefits, and do business with a conscience.”

The news was published simultaneously on the Hai Qing City Public Weibo and the Hai Qing WeChat. In just a morning’s time, the views already reached more than ten thousand, and some famous bloggers even reposted it on their Weibo.

“Stupid! This shopkeeper is so black-hearted. Two thousand for a goldfish? Are these goldfish fairy spirits or made of gold? These shopkeepers really have no conscience. They’ll definitely die a terrible death sooner or later!”

“Sky-high goldfish price? So strong! I’ll have to go check it out later today to see if it’s as impressive as the author makes it sound!”

“Damn! If I go in, will they force me to buy? I’m a pretty boy, so I just don’t know whether the shop owner is a man or a woman!”

“F*ck, this black-hearted shop owner deserves to have his store damaged!”

On Weibo there were many angry comments, but there were also more reasonable questions like: “Buying goldfish isn’t like being tricked to order shrimp. At this price, can’t you just choose not to buy?”

“Can goldfish even be sold at such a price?”

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“Customers aren’t idiots, will they spend two thousand RMB on a goldfish? This goldfish has to be rare and precious right?”

Of course, these comments were covered by the flood of angry words, and a lot of people were even preparing to go to the store.

Some of his customers saw the news and thought they had been tricked and were going to the store for an explanation.

Chu Xian didn’t know about any of this, and he spent his time looking up all kinds of information. Because of the rain, there weren’t many people on the street.

When it was almost nighttime, the rain finally stopped. Chu Xian rubbed his eyes and frowned in thought. His mind was fuzzy, and he put his phone away and walked over to the Mo Ke Fish.

“This one, is it this one?”

A loud voice suddenly filled the store.

The noisy sounds from outside disturbed Chu Xian’s thoughts, and he looked up in confusion as a small group of people burst into the store. One of the young men was holding a fish tank.

“Shop owner!” the young man yelled.

Chu Xian looked at them with some confusion and asked, “What’s the problem?”

“The problem? Why don’t you tell me?” The young man plunked the fish tank onto the table. “You’re the lying, black-hearted shopkeeper, right? My grandmother bought these five goldfish from you a couple days ago, right?”

Chu Xian examined the goldfish in confusion and didn’t see any problems. He turned to one of the elderly women in the back and recognized the face. “Yes, your grandmother came in a few days ago saying she wanted a gift for her little granddaughter.”

“As long as you admit it!” the young man said. “Did you sell these fish for two thousand each?”

“En,” Chu Xian replied.

“You’re a cheat! Two thousand each? You lied to my grandmother who didn’t know any better. Now that your tourist trap has been exposed, I’m warning you. You better refund me or this thing won’t end well!”

The young man threw a newspaper into Chu Xian’s face.

Chu Xian frowned, flipped over the paper and read it. His expression twisted, and he clenched his fists.

“Hehe, kid, your store is infamous now. All of Hai Qing City knows about it, congratulations,” the young man said with a mocking expression. “You make dirty money without a conscience. People like you will really die a terrible death.”

Chu Xian cocked an eyebrow at him, saying, “What, do you want to make trouble?”

“Hehe. Why would we make trouble with a closing store?” the young man said contemptuously. “We brought the fish back. If you refund us, we can forget about this. If you don’t, don’t blame us for making trouble!”

Chu Xian looked at them then looked at the goldfish and laughed. “Okay, ten thousand. I’ll return it to you.”